As a performing artist, my ideas and interests are continually evolving. My movement training began at age five with gymnastics— a love which has never fully waned. It is this background, in fact, which inspired me to explore the broad range of movement possible for the human body. I have had a great deal of training in ballet and modern techniques, while I have also found myself drawn to such disciplines as stilts, static trapeze, and aerial fabric.

But, in contrast to the trick-based approach to movement common particularly in gymnastics and aerial work, I find that I am heavily influenced by modern dance and especially by my longtime teacher, Jim May. Through modern dance, I have learned that movement is capable of much more than thrilling an audience with tricks. Through modern dance, I have learned that I can use movement to express a feeling, communicate an idea, and ultimately share a piece of my Self with an audience. This is the type of work I enjoy most— work which may be highly technical, yet goes beyond purely technical execution. This is the sensibility which I wish to bring to all my work.

Along this road of development, I have been fortunate to perform with dance choreographers who work in different styles and use dramatically different artistic processes. I have performed the repertory of Isadora Duncan, the repertory of Charles Weidman, work based in Horton technique, work influenced by Graham technique, work based in release technique, and traditional Scottish dances. I have even performed in works which incorporate my gymnastics abilities. This has challenged me not only to be versatile, but to constantly reconsider the way I think about movement and its possibilities.

I have been particularly inspired by the work I have done with Alice Farley who creates stilt and dance characters with their own idiosyncrasies and movement vocabularies. In addition to fueling my fascination with the possibilities of dance on stilts, her work also challenges me to consider the possibilities of dance on other apparatus. This paved the way for a variety of other performance experiences. In December 2003, I performed on stilts in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Benvenuto Cellini. Directed by Andrei Serban and choreographed by Niky Wolcz, this production introduced me to the world of physical theater and once again broadened my thinking about movement and choreography. In 2004, I created a trapeze tango in which I explored how the sensuality, the rhythm and the style of a tango could translate from a human partner to a trapeze. In 2005, I repeated this exercise in my creation of an Argentine tango on stilts which sought to maintain the sensitivity of this beautiful partner dance, while adding the extra height afforded by working on stilts. More recently, I have been working with Emily Smyth Vartanian to create a duet for fabric sling—a duet which feels and moves like modern dance, but which utilizes the technique and possibilities presented by this aerial apparatus.

As I move forward, my movement interests lie not only in modern dance, but in a creative world beyond modern dance. I am interested in the blending, merging and adaptation of movement disciplines to create work in which each discipline can benefit from the others. I am interested in the integration of my diverse movement interests to capture in a single place some greater part of myself.